Quinoa Pizza Bites (Vegan)

Here's another girls' night appetizer I made! This again is a Pinterest recipe I modified. (Source) 

Again, please bear with me on the photo quality, remember these were reheated, and slightly burned :(

Great recipe though, enjoy!

I've come to find that a lot of people really enjoy quinoa now, and it's much less "what the heck is that?" and more of,  "wow, I've been trying to find new ways to use it!" when you make it. It used to be really difficult to find, but I find most of my ingredients at either Big Y, Stop & Shop, or even Foodtown/Freshtown has a good selection of vegetarian and vegan options now. I'll be honest, I never thought I'd find such a selection of Vegenaise at Freshtown, and it's actually awesome if you like mayo, but don't like all that saturated fat and cholesterol. I for one am a cheese and mayo fiend, and even I like it! ANYWAY, back to this recipe!

Quinoa Pizza Bites

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked white quinoa
• 2 tsp. soy flour + 2 tbsp. water, or 2 eggs
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1 tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. dried basil
• 1 tbsp. dried oregano
• ½ tsp. salt
• pizza sauce, for dipping

Method

Cook quinoa according to package directions (this is usually 2:1 water/quinoa ratio). Cool quinoa, and mix with all ingredients except pizza sauce. Preheat oven to 350°F, lightly oil or spray the bottoms of a muffin or mini muffin tin, and use a tablespoon measure to fill mixture in your pan. If using a full size muffin tin like I did, use a heaping/rounded tablespoon in each cup. Bake 15-20 minutes for minis, approx. 30 minutes for full size. Serve with warm pizza sauce.

Have a great weekend!

*Vegan Swap- Honey Garlic Appetizer Meatballs

OK, so first off:
Huge apologies to all three of you who have been asking what happened to me. Mostly, I've been M.I.A because I have been experimenting since being new to vegetarian and veganism and wasn't really into sharing food I haven't tested and really wasn't sure was any good. Also, I was having trouble updating since wayyyyy back in June when my subject field just wouldn't work, and then my blog just wouldn't save or anything. I have a Chromebook and finally an update must have been available to alleviate (come ON, Google!) this, since this is the first time I've been able to write anything without being told "no subject field".

Secondly,(!) way back in June I hosted a spa party for a few lady friends which turned into an awesome girls' night, and got a lot of happy non-vegans telling me my food was good. Which felt really good!

So here's the first of my girls' night recipes!

Please bear with me as all I have right now is an iPhone so the photo quality is rather lackluster, and also keep in mind that I wasn't able to get pictures at the party, but the next day when I made them as leftovers.
This is a Pinterest recipe I fooled around with and that's why it's a vegan swap-out
source

Honey Garlic Appetizer Meatballs

Ingredients

for the meatballs:

• 2 packages Gimme Lean, or 2lb ground beef
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• ¾ cup milk of your choice (my preference)
• ½ cup finely chopped onion
• 2 tsp. soy flour + 2 tbsp. water, or 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. salt

for the sauce:

• 1 tbsp. Earth Balance/butter
• 10 cloves garlic, sliced very thin or pushed through a garlic press
• ¾ cup ketchup
• ½ cup honey
• ¼ cup Bragg's Liquid Aminos, or soy sauce

Method

Preheat oven to 400°F  

In a large bowl, mix "meat", bread crumbs, milk, onion, "eggs" and salt. Form into balls, any size you prefer. Place balls in a single layer in a glass baking dish (if using a meat substitute or 90% lean meat or higher, lightly oil the pan). Bake 20-30 minutes, until they are evenly browned.

For the sauce, melt butter in a saucepan and over medium-low heat saute garlic is tender and fragrant. Add the ketchup, honey, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cover, allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

At this point, you can add the meatballs and glaze them, then serve. Or, refrigerate sauce and meatballs separately overnight until 4 hours before serving, then cook in a crock pot on low until ready to serve.

Enjoy! Have a great weekend!